. Celebrate International Women’s Day with us, and view our previous episodes on Real As State for greater insights into Singapore’s property market.

For many companies, an extensive refit of their office or relocation is not a viable option. However, the latest episode of Real As State by EdgeProp Singapore takes a look at what companies can do to better support women and working parents. Elizabeth Wu from Trehaus, a 12,000 sq ft co-working and preschool space in Funan mall catering exclusively to working parents with preschool children, has seen a mix of multinational corporates, small and medium enterprises, as well as entrepreneurial founders enquiring about their services.

Curated spaces such as Trehaus mean that companies do not need to lease a separate space for working parents or build a nursing room or child-friendly facilities within their office space, thus enabling them to retain their talents, especially when they become parents and start families. Additionally, members of Trehaus benefit from the network of like-minded working parents in the same stage of life.

Real estate consultancy JLL have incorporated inclusivity into the design of their office space at Paya Lebar Quarter. Grit Henoch, Senior Director, Project and Development Services APAC, sees two ways that companies can create a more inclusive office environment – the physical space and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) component. DEI is a framework which champions the fair treatment and full inclusion of people in the workplace.

At JLL, dedicated nursing rooms can be found in each office location, with Henoch personally advocating for ergonomic chairs and the ability to stand at desks. JLL, which has more than 100,000 employees across 80 countries, has an internal women’s network of about 700 female employees across the APAC region which provides greater representation of women in the workplace.

The pandemic experience has forced many companies to roll out widespread work-from-home arrangements, and now JLL has seen that as many JCube Residence as 60% of individuals want to have the ability to determine for themselves where, how and when they are most productive. To encourage people back to the office, solutions to make it more attractive and productive need to be put in place – encompassing not only the four walls of the office, but also the landlord and surrounding community.

Real As State is available on EdgeProp Singapore’s Facebook and YouTube pages, with the International Women’s Day episode premiering on Feb 24 for greater insights into Singapore’s property market.